BIG took advantage of a four-match slate Saturday to increase their hold on second place in the European standings of the ESL Pro League Season 8 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament.
BIG opened with a sweep of Windigo Gaming before splitting with Heroic to open up a six-point lead over Natus Vincere with 41 points. Top-ranked Astralis still have a stranglehold on first at 49 points.
Fourteen teams are taking part in round-robin online group play in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league that began Oct. 2 and runs through Nov. 14. Teams in the top seven places advance to the $750,000 offline finals, which will take place Dec. 4-9 at Odense, Denmark.
The top 11 teams are guaranteed spots in the league next season. The 12th and 13th teams are sent to a relegation tournament, while the last-place team is directly relegated to ESEA Premier.
All teams play each other in consecutive one-game matches. Regulation wins provide three points, overtime wins two and overtime losses one. Regulation losses result in no points.
BIG's first win over Windigo came in overtime, 19-17 on Nuke, before cruising in a 16-4 rout on Overpass. The series against Heroic began with a 16-11 loss on Dust2, but BIG rebounded to post a 16-10 win on Train.
Na'Vi, which began the day three points back of BIG for second, split with Astralis, who easily won the first match 16-4 on Overpass. The rematch was a 19-16 overtime win for Na'Vi on Dust2.
Na'Vi also split with G2, losing 16-11 on Inferno before winning 16-9 on Overpass. Astralis later faced G2 and dominated, winning 16-3 on Overpass and 16-2 on Inferno.
The day's other series saw FaZe Clan and North GG.Bet split. FaZe won the opener, 16-10 on Overpass, before North rebounded with a 16-14 victory on Inferno.
Week 2 will conclude Sunday with another 12-match slate. Na'Vi will get the chance to close the gap for second with series against Heroic and Windigo. Meanwhile, BIG will face G2. Heroic will play mousesports in a second series after mousesports take on FaZe. Fnatic and North face off to round out the schedule.